Binky
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: Binky is the love of Lavender's life; she loves her bunny very much and can't imagine life without him.


_**Written for the 'Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition' Round One: Family, Category: Pets. **_

_**Written for the 'If You Dare Challenge' by Slytherin Cat, using prompt #520, **__**Lost Life**_

_**Written for the 'Disney Character Competition' by MelodyPond77, using **__**Gurgi: **__**a cute, troublesome something. Monkey, maybe? Just write about something cute and adorable.**_

…

At first, it was only a sea of brown and white fur, moving and shifting as so many of the silly little creatures hopped around each other, long ears flopping wildly and tails wiggling as they moved.

Lavender giggled as she watched them all, a dozen little bunnies all vying for her attention, pushing each other from her view, as they all sniffed at the edges of the cage, because Lavender was very cautiously holding a carrot out to them just like Mr. Michaels, the owner of the pet store, has told her to do.

They kept falling over each other as bunnies moved around in the cage, tripping over little feet or long ears, only to get back up once more to get a whiff of carrot.

Lavender-who was thirteen and ought to have known better-laughed as she held the carrot just slightly out of reach, watching them hop in an attempt to reach her and the delicious looking vegetable that she so loosely held in her right hand above their heads.

"Lav, you're teasing them," her mother said quietly, looking up from where she had been sopping up melted ice cream from her shirt, a stain gained from when one of Lavender's young siblings had accidentally dropped a cone on Mrs. Brown.

Lavender had four younger siblings, all of them males who revelled in being sticky and loud and annoying as much as possible.

"I'm _not _teasing them, Mum. Look, _look_ at them. Aren't they just the cutest things you've ever seen? Can't we just buy them all, Mum, and take them home with us?" Lavender turned with pleading eyes, looking at her mother as she let her bottom lip quiver gently. She loved rabbits, and they all just looked so precious that Lavender couldn't imagine picking _just _one.

"Lavender, we agreed that you can only buy one rabbit, remember? If you're going to argue with me now, we can just go home and not get any sort of pet at all. A bunny is a lot of responsibility and I'll be the one taking care of your silly pet while you're at school, I have no doubt, and one bunny rabbit is enough for you. Now would you _please _just pick a rabbit so I can get the boys home?"

Lavender dropped the carrot into the cage and, having been looking at the potential pets for quite some time, she made her decision as quickly as possible.

Lavender leaned over the cage and scooped up one of the smaller rabbits, holding the little thing close to her chest and smiling as she ran her fingers through its fur.

This bunny was the prettiest one of the lot, Lavender thought to herself, and when Mr. Michael; asked her what she was naming the cute little bunny, she said Binky, because it sounded just as cute as the bunny itself.

Mr. Michael put a big blue bow around Binky's neck and Lavender smiled happily, snuggling Binky's face up against her cheek.

"We're going to be best friends, Binky," the thirteen year old told her new rabbit happily as they walked out of the pet store and out to her mother's car. "I just _know _it. I'm going to love you very much and you'll live _such _a long life at my house."

She kissed the little rabbit on the nose as her brothers rushed into the car, beginning their yelling and fighting once more as she covered Binky's ears and whispered comforting words into his ears.

…

Binky seemed to enjoy sleeping on Lavender's bed, though he sometimes pooped on her sheets, forcing Lavender to clean them up.

But for the most part, Binky was very well behaved for a baby bunny, and Lavender always made sure to feed him an extra carrot before bedtime, even though Mum said it would give him stomach aches.

She liked staring at Binky for hours, watching as he hopped through the house or nibbled at her mum's curtains.

Binky was very shy and Lavender's four brothers were very noisy, so there were, of course, occasionally conflicts in which Lavender was required to rescue her poor pet from of one brothers' nefarious schemes.

Binky learned quickly that the biggish creatures with grabbing hands were bad, but Lavender was always there to comfort her poor bunny until she stopped shaking.

At thirteen, she was the oldest and the only one in Hogwarts, which made her worried for Binky's healthy when it came time to start school. Who would rescue poor Binky when she wasn't around to do it herself?

Lavender did her best to put those thoughts away for the time being, focusing instead on Binky's long brown fur and the way his ears flopped or the way his tail wiggled as he moved.

She would follow her little rabbit around, wrinkling and wriggling her nose like Binky, and let him sit in her lap while she wrote letters to her best friend, Parvati.

Parvati, too, seemed to be fascinated by Binky, asking after him in nearly all the messages they wrote each other and writing about how cute he looked in the pictures Lavender sent her.

Binky, Lavender thought to herself very often over the summer, was most likely the best thing to have ever happened to her.

Binky was happy and he made Lavender happy.

It was a shame-and a great disappointment to the almost Third Year-that bunny rabbits weren't allowed at Hogwarts, and Lavender often prayed at night that summer would go slower so that she could spend more time with her lovely little pet.

But times passed without a care of a thirteen year old girl's prayers and very soon, August was drawing to a close, and Lavender's time with Binky quickly dwindled to a few days.

Lavender woke up one morning to find that her summer was almost entirely gone, and she began praying earnestly for some chance miracle to land in her lap to allow her to bring Binky to school with her,

Mum wouldn't take care of Binky as well as Lavender did, because Mum didn't love binky quite as much as Lavender loved Binky.

In desperation, Lavender even planned out a letter to Professor McGonagall to ask if they might let her bring Binky to Hogwarts with her, but the letter always sounded pleading every time she tried to write it, and so nothing ever came of her despair.

Instead, Lavender moved Binky into her bedroom for those last few nights, letting him sleep in a comfy little box with blankets and plenty of carrots and water.

She had been neglecting the work that had been given to her in June and Lavender spent much of her last few days spread across her bed with textbooks everywhere.

Binky was settled on a towel while she finished her essays, occasionally jumping over to nibble at lavender's hair, which always made the girl laugh.

She would take breaks constantly to kiss Binky's nose and feed him even more food, whispering little comments to him.

Binky was the love of Lavender's life, and she had doted on him over the course of the summer, but unfortunately, September soon began and Lavender returned to Hogwarts without her precious Binky to snuggle with.

…

_October 16, 1993_

_Lav, _

_I swear, we only took our eyes offa him for maybe two seconds. I swear, Lav. This was all totally Luke's fault. I wasn't even outside…that fox was super fast, Lav, no one even noticed until it was too late. I tried to tell John that we shouldn't have left Binky outside, but someone musta left his cage door open or something, because when I went to check on him, he was gone. Mum says she is very sorry about Binky and to let you know that we buried him in the back yard because that is where all the shade is. I hope you aren't too upset, and I really _am _sorry about Binky. He was a baby rabbit, and I know you really loved him. We sent you a picture of Binky, though, in case you want to look at him. It was…I didn't even know we _had _any foxes around her, Lav. I swear, I'm so sorry. I hope you are okay, and I hope you don't cry too much about Binky._

_Sorry, sorry, sorry-_

_Your brother Matthew._


End file.
